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UC-NRLF 


A   REVIEW 


OF 


Swedish  Gymnastics 


BY 


THEODORE   HOUGH 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  BIOLOGY,    MASSACHUSETTS  INSTITUTE  OF    TECHNOLOGY^ 

INSTRUCTOR   IN   PHYSIOLOGY  AND  PERSONAL  HYGIENE,    BOSTON 

NORMAL  SCHOOL  OF  GYMNASTICS 


BOSTON 

GEORGE  H.  ELLIS,  PRINTER,  272  CONGRESS  STREET 
1899 


COPVRIGHTEn 

I899 
BY  THEODORE  HOUGH 


This  paper  was  given,  practically  in  its  present  form,  in 
May,  1899,  as  a  lecture  before  the  students  of  the  Boston 
Normal  School  of  Gymnastics,  and  subsequently,  in  June, 
1899,  before  the  Physical  Training  Conference  at  Spring- 
field, Mass. 


A    REVIEW   OF    SWEDISH    GYMNASTICS. 


THE  term  "Swedish  Gymnastics"  is  usually  understood 
to  mean,  in  this  country  at  least,  a  system  of  physical 
training  designed  to  meet  certain  demands  in  the  educa- 
tion of  childhood  and  youth;  and,  since  the  question  of 
its  utility  is  at  present  largely  or  chiefly  concerned  with 
its  use  in  schools,  it  will  be  well  to  begin  our  discussion 
with  this  phase  of  the  matter. 

If  it  is  a  function  of  education  to  train  the  growing  indi- 
vidual for  usefulness  in  life,  physical  education  must  de- 
mand attention  in  any  proper  scheme  of  educational  work 
since  the  capacity  for  usefulness  is  so  largely  determined 
by  the  physical  health  of  the  individual.  It  is  perfectly 
true  that  we  find  cases  in  which,  owing  to  unusual  mental 
power,  success  has  been  attained  in  spite  of  physical  de- 
fects and  even  of  moral  defects.  We  see  cases  where*  suc- 
cess has  similarly  been  attained  because  of  moral  qualities 
and  in  spite  of  very  moderate  mental  power  or  of  physical 
weakness.  But  such  cases  are  the  exception.  If  you  study 
great  masses  of  people,  you  will  find  that  serious  defects  in 
physical  power  are  almost  certain  to  hamper  life's  work. 
That  work  may  be  done,  but  it  involves  -a  severe  struggle. 
In  a  large  percentage  of  cases  it  is  not  done,  and  life  be- 
comes a  succession  of  failures.  It  is,  after  all,  on  the  physi- 
cal man  that  we  build.  The  leaders  in  life's  activities  are 
almost  without  exception  men  of  strong  physical  constitu- 
tion; a  large  percentage  of  the  failures  are  men  of  weak 
constitution  ;  and  any  system  of  education  which  impairs 
physical  vigor  and  leaves  men  physically  unequal  to  the 


work  of  life  is  unworthy  of  encouragement, —  is,   indeed, 
radically  wrong. 

The  physical  condition  or  health  of  a  human  being  at 
any  age  until  growth  is  completed  is  the  result  of  a  process 
of  physical  development.  In  actual  life,  Athene  does  not 
spring  full-fledged  from  the  brow  of  Jove,  nor  Venus  from 
the  foam  of  the  sea.  For  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  two  hundred  hours  the  most  varied  physiological 
activities  have  been  at  work  to  make  the  man  or  woman  of 
twenty  years;  and,  could  we  read  but  deep  enough,  we  could 
see  that  the  conditions  which  obtained  during  each  of  those 
hours  have  contributed  their  share  to  the  final  structure, 
the  health,  the  possibilities  of  that  living  being. 

Development,  in  short,  is  the  result  of  three  factors :  — 

1.  Heredity. —  It  is  not  necessary  to  attempt  a  definition 
of  this  term.     It  is  the   expression   of   the   structure  and 
characters  of  the  fertilized  ovum  from  which  all  the  cells 
of  the  body  are  derived.      It  gives  us  the  living  material 
upon  which  we  must  work  in  education,  and  at  once  deter- 
mines the  possibilities,  the  limitations,  and,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  course  of  training. 

2.  Environment,  both  of  the  body  as  a  whole  and  of  each 
of  its  units,  the  living  cells.     This  would  include  the  ex- 
ternal  conditions  of  life  and  the  chemical    and    physical 
characters  of  the  blood.     Under  it  we  would  include  the 
food  supply,    the  surrounding  temperature,    clothing,    the 
care  of  the  young, by  the  parents,  the  hygienic  conditions 
of  the  dwelling,  bathing,  and  so  on. 

3.  Activity  of  each  cell  and  of  the  body  as  a  whole.     By 
activity  I  do  not  mean  simply  muscular  activity;  that  is 
merely  the  activity  of  one  kind  of  cell, —  the  muscle  fibre. 
The  discharge  of  a  nervous  impulse  from  a  nerve-cell   is  a 
case  of  similar  activity  in  another  kind  of  cell;  the  process 
of  secretion  is  similarly  another  case  of  activity  in  a  gland- 


cell;  and  so  with  each  kind  of  cell  in  the  body.  Now 
we  have  satisfactory  evidence  in  most  cases  that  the  growth 
of  the  cell  is  profoundly  influenced  by  its  functional  activ- 
ity, and  cannot  be  complete  without  this  activity.  If  a 
growing  muscle  fibre  never  contracts,  it  cannot  develop 
into  a  healthy  adult  fibre.  A  growing  nerve-cell  which 
never  sends  an  impulse  over  its  axon  cannot  become  an 
efficient  nerve-cell.  A  growing  pancreas  which  never  se- 
cretes pancreatic  juice  cannot  grow  into  a  perfect  gland. 
The  classical  example  of  this  is  the  failure  of  the  motor- 
cells  of  the  cervical  cord  to  develop  when  the  arm  has  been 
amputated  about  the  time  of  birth  ;  under  such  circum- 
stances the  nerve-cells  do  not  send  impulses  out  over  their 
axons,  and  accordingly  take  on  characteristic  degenerated 
forms.  Moreover,  within  certain  limits  the  efficiency  of 
an  adult  cell  is  proportional  to  the  amount  of  activity  it 
has  had  during  development;  the  muscle  fibre  which  has 
been  used  is  capable  of  doing  work  which  one  which  has 
been  used  but  slightly  can  never  be  trained  to  perform. 
"You  cannot  teach  an  old  dog  new  tricks,"  is  one  way  of 
saying  that  the  greatest  possibilities  of  training  belong  to 
the  period  of  growth ;  and  this  is  especially  true  of  physi- 
cal development.  We  can  do  for  the  physical  man  before 
the  age  of  twenty-one  what  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
do  between  twenty  and  sixty. 

The  three  factors,  then,  at  work  in  development  are 
heredity,  environment,  activity.  Heredity  should  deter- 
mine what  education  is  to  attempt  and  the  general  course 
which  its  operations  should  follow.  Environment  demands 
attention  to  the  hygienic  conditions  of  the  home  and  the 
school,  to  clothing,  feeding,  bathing,  etc.  The  greater 
part  of  the  work  of  education,  however,  is  directed  toward 
giving  such  guidance  to  the  activities  of  the  body,  and 
especially  to  the  volitional  activities,  as  shall  produce  the 
best  physical,  mental,  and  moral  results.  Now,  if  what 


has  already  been  said  be  true,  it  is  clear  that  muscular 
activity  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  development  of  the 
physical  man.  Not  only  is  it  necessary  to  the  proper 
development  of  the  nervous  and  muscular  systems,  but, 
over  and  above  this,  in  subsequent  life,  health  is  so  inti- 
mately dependent  on  muscular  activity,  and  muscular  ac- 
tivity is  so  hard  to  maintain  in  a  physically  defective  body, 
that  some  sort  of  physical  training  must  go  along  with 
study  in  youth  to  make  our  educational  scheme  complete. 

When  we  examine  further  into  the  matter,  we  see  that 
not  only  does  muscular  activity  play  an  important  part  in 
general  in  the  development  of  the  child,  but  that  different 
neuro-muscular  mechanisms  develop  best  at  different 
periods  of  life.  Accordingly,  the  muscular  activity  of  the 
child  is  directed  chiefly  toward  the  development  of  the 
mechanisms  of  accustomed  movements,  such  as  those  of 
walking,  running,  and,  in  general,  of  movements  which 
involve  the  use  of  large  masses  of  muscles  and  produce 
co-ordination  of  these  muscles.  Later,  activity  takes  on 
more  distinctively  the  character  of  skilled  movements, 
which  cultivate  manual  dexterity,  the  more  perfect  use  of 
language,  etc.  Going  along  with  these,  we  naturally  find 
the  growth  of  the  more  complicated  mental  processes,  this 
mental  development  generally,  though  not  always,  contin- 
uing in  full  force  long  after  the  motor  mechanisms  are 
acquired. 

Nature,  however,  does  not  make  the  adult  man  as  a 
machinist  does  a  piece  of  mechansim,  by  completing  one 
thing  before  beginning  another,  and  then,  when  every  part 
is  complete,  putting  all  together  into  a  harmonious  whole. 
The  curve  of  work  on  each  mechanism  would  overlap  the 
curve  of  work  on  other  mechanisms;  but  the  maximum 
points  of  these  curves  would  be  different. 

A  moment's  consideration  of  the  previous  discussion 
brings  out  clearly  the  fact  that  the  mental  education  of  the 


child  begins  at  the  time  when  his  physical  development  is 
sti.ll  going  on,  and  that  the  work  of  the  school-room  is  a 
direct  hindrance  to  normal  physical  development.  The 
child  must  give  up  his  play  in  order  to  learn  his  lessons. 
He  must  sit  still,  and  that,  too,  in  what  are  frequently 
unsuitable  desks,  made  without  reference  to  the  proportions 
of  his  body.  It  is,  indeed,  very  doubtful  whether  the 
highest  physical  development  is  ever  consistent  with  the 
best  mental  training;  the  boy  as  he  leaves  our  schools 
can  never  be  capable  of  the  same  endurance  that  we  find 
among  more  uncultured  peoples  who  live  under  otherwise 
favorable  surroundings;  nor  is  there  any  physiological  rea- 
son why  he  should  reach  such  a  state  of  physical  develop- 
ment, considering  the  work  which  he  has  to  do  in  life. 
But  it  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  leave  school  with 
impaired  health ;  it  is  not  even  necessary  that  he  should  be 
hollow-chested,  stoop-shouldered;  it  is  not  necessary  that 
he  should  have  an  awkward  carriage;  it  is  not  necessary 
that  he  should  be  physically  lazy,  disinclined  to  take  the 
very  moderate  amount  of  exercise  which  the  maintenance 
of  his  health  demands. 

The  mental  training  of  youth,  in  other  words,  has  intro- 
duced an  unnatural  physical  environment,  which,  if  not 
corrected,  will  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  tell  upon  subse- 
quent bodily  health,  and  so  in  too  many  cases  upon  mental 
and  moral  health  as  well.  If  no  attention  were  paid  to 
mental  training,  if  our  children  never  went  to  school,  phys- 
ical training  would  be  for  the  greater  part  unnecessary. 
It  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  main  functions  of  physical  edu- 
cation to  correct  the  injurious  effects  of  the  unnatural 
environment  created  by  mental  education,  and  to  do  this 
without  endangering  the  efficiency  of  that  mental  training. 

Such  is  the  starting-point  of  the  Swedish  system,  in' 
common  with  most  other  systems.  Whether  it  adopts  the 


correct  means  or  not,  it  goes  to  work  with  the  right  object 
in  view.  Its  purpose  is  not  to  train  athletes,  although  it  * 
may  be  developed  in  that  direction;  it  is  primarily  an 
attempt  to  conserve  the  physical  man  during  his  mental 
training,  so  that,  when  the  period  of  schooling  is  over,  he 
shall  have  a  body  physiologically  capable  of  sustaining  him 
in  the  work  of  his  life. 

Not  only  is  its  purpose  correct,  but  its  general  attitude 
in  approaching  the  practical  problems  is  also  correct.  Its 
/work,  in  other  words,  does  not  run  to  doing  difficult  feats 
\]  I  on  particular  pieces  of  apparatus;  the  Swedes  claim - 
and  with  justice — that  they  do  not  adapt  their  work  to 
apparatus,  but  their  apparatus  to  their  work.  Far  be  it 
from  me  to  claim  that  this  is  a  virtue  found  only  in  this 
particular  system ;  but  in  certain  other  systems  this  point 
is  not  properly  guarded;  and  in  any  system  corrective 
exercises,  to  be  effective,  must  be  carried  out  under  the 
guidance  of  trained  teachers.  It  is  a  fact  not  fully  appre- 
ciated, even  among  those  who  believe  in  exercise  in  gen- 
eral, that  the  best  physical  development  comes  from  the 
proper  use  of  very  many  different  movements;  that  the  use 
of  one  group  of  muscles  going  along  with  the  improper  use 
of  other  groups  of  muscles,  although  for  the  time  being 
serving  the  general  hygienic  purposes  of  exercise,  may  pro- 
duce anatomical  results  which  can  only  be  described  as  de- 
formities; and  that  this  is  especially  apt  to  be  the  case 
where  movements  are  improperly  executed. 
—  i  Gymnastics,  moreover,  as  developed  in  Sweden,  has  kept 
in  view  another  matter  of  very  considerable  practical  im- 
portance; it  is  necessary  in  our  schools  that  comparatively 
large  numbers  of  students  shall  receive  physical  training 
at  the  same  time;  and  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  this  con- 
dition entirely,  even  with  the  most  favorable  arrangement 
of  the  study  schedule.  Largely  for  this  reason  the  use  of 
large  and  cumbersome  apparatus,  which  occupies  an  amount 


1 1 

of  floor-space  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  number  of 
students  which  it  can  accommodate,  is  avoided;  and  the 
work  is  done  either  by  using  free  standing  movements 
alone,  or  else  these  with  the  addition  of  work  on  appa- 
ratus which  can  be  arranged  along  the  walls  or  ceiling  of 
the  room,  or  can  readily  be  removed,  leaving  the  entire 
floor  clear  for  the  class  drill.*  The  movements  chosen  at 
the  same  time  exercise  all  the  muscles  of  the  body  and  yet 
can  be  carried  out  simultaneously  by  large  classes.  Thus 
we  have  introduced  the  gymnastic  drill,  which  is  employed 
not  solely  for  its  value  as  a  drill,  but  because  a  single  in- 
structor can  do  effective  work  with  a  large  number  of  stu- 
dents at  the  same  time.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  practical 
importance.  The  drill  is  far  superior  to  individual  gym- 
nasium work.  This  is  seen  at  once  if  one  realizes  the  fact 
that,  if  physical  training  is  to  accomplish  the  very  desir- 
able end  of  producing  correct  proportions,  form,  and  car- 
riage of  the  body,  the  instructor  must  be  able  to  observe 
quickly  the  work  of  a  large  number  of  students  in  every 
movement  they  make.  With  ordinary  apparatus  workT  such 
as  is  used  in  m^st  "f  w\r  gymnasia,  this  15  impossibly  fre,-  ^ 
cause  fifty  or  a  hundred  different  students  are  each  doing  a 
different  thing.  The  drill  likewise  has  the  advantage  of 
supplying  an  incentive  to  every  student  to  do  the  move- 
ment correctly,  in  that  others  are  doing  the  same  thing  at 
the  same  time.  For  these  practical  reasons  the  gymnastic 
drill,  whether  with  apparatus  or  without  it,  is  the  ideal 
form  of  gymnasium  work. 

We  often  hear  critics  sneer  at  this  feature  of  the  system. 
In  a  recent  article  in  the  American  Physical  Education  Re- 
view we  read  of  "that  nervously  exhausting  and  deaden- 
ing drill,  known  as  the  Swedish  gymnastics,  which,  by  the 
name  of  educational  gymnastics,  adds  fatigue  to  fatigue 

*The  word  drill  is  always  used  in  this  paper  in  a  sense  similar  to  its  use  in  military  drill, 
and  never  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  frequently  employed  in  the  literature  of  gymnastics,  where  it 
means  a  definite  series  of  movements  performed  in  unison  by  a  class,  as,  for  example,  in  a  "  dumb- 
bell drill." 


12 


by  taking  the  initiative  away  from  the  child,  and  forcing 
him  to  pay  constant  and  close  attention  to  the  orders  of 
the  teacher,  that  he  may  execute  with  precision  entirely 
uninteresting  and  conventional  movements."  I  have  no 
disposition  to  underrate  the  value  of  spontaneous  play  in 
the  development  of  the  child.  By  all  means  encourage  the 
child  to  play,  and  make  this  a  part  of  the  school  day.  Nor 
clo  I  advocate  undue  attention  to  gymnastic  work.  I  advo- 
cate giving  only  so  much  of  this  as  is  necessary  to  correct 
the  physical  or  physiological  faults  resulting  from  school- 
room work.  Nor  do  I  deny  that  any  drill,  any  gymnastic 
work,  may  be  "nervously  exhausting  and  deadening,"  this 
depending  on  the  teacher,  the  main  factor  upon  which  the 
success  of  all  gymnasium  work  depends;  but,  granting  all 
this,  I  must  insist  that  gymnastics,  when  properly  used,jfp 
can  produce  advantageous  physiological  results,  which  can-lv 
not  be  producedbyplay  alone.  It  does  not  do  to  forget  the  ' 
fact  that,  while  play  will  do  for  a  savage  or  a  kitten  what 
we  try  to  do  for  our  school  children  by  gymnastics,  the 
"material  upon  which  the  factor  of  play  works  in  these  cases 
has  not  been  subjected  to  conditions  which  actively  pro- 
duce deformities  or  deficiencies.  Superintendent  Seaver 
well  stated  the  purpose  of  school  gymnastics  as  the  anti- 
dote of  the  school  desk.  Take  the  most  common  example, 
that  of  stoop  shoulders  and  contracted  chest.  Will  it  be 
claimed  that  these  can  be  corrected  by  spontaneous  play 
alone  ?  Personally,  I  have  seen  too  many  cases  which 
could  not  be  brought  into  agreement  with  such  a  theory  to 
allow  me  to  accept  it;  and,  even  in  many  cases  where  play 
exerts  a  corrective  influence,  the  same  results  can  be  more 
surely  and  more  economically  accomplished  by  gymnastics. 
And  we  deny  absolutely  that  gymnastics  need  be  a  bore. 

The  last  paragraph  indicates  the  position  of  Swedish 
gymnastics  in  physical  training,  and  this  must  not  be  lost 
sight  of  by  those  who  would  understand  it.  It  will  be 


C'3 

more  fully  shown  in  later  parts  of  this  paper  that  physical 
training  presents  two  distinct  although  not  mutually  ex- 
clusive sides, —  the  general  hygienic  and  the  corrective. 
While  Swedish  work  gives  to  a  very  considerable  extent  the 
general  hygienic  effects  of  exercise,  it  is  primarily  con- 
cerned with  the  corrective  side;  and  it  may  be  well  to 
define  clearly  at  this  point  what  is  meant  by  corrective 
gymnastics.  The  effects  of  the  physically  specialized  life 
of  the  school,  and,  indeed,  of  most  forms  of  specialization, 
manifest  themselves  in  two  ways, —  in  anatomical  changes 
and '  in  awkwardness  or  peculiarity  of  movement  of  the 
body  as  a  whole.  Strictly  speaking,  the  term  "corrective" 
should  be  used  only  with  reference  to  that  gymnastic  work 
which  attempts  to  remove  anatomical  and  physiological* 
faults.  In  point  of  fact,  the  exercises  which  are  used  to 
do  this  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  used  to  prevent  the 
same  faults;  and  no  hard-and-fast  line  can  be  drawn  be- 
tween remedial  and  preventive  gymnastics.  It  is  therefore 
convenient  to  include  the  two  under  the  single  term  cor- 
rective, which  is  thus  used  in  this  paper.  It  will  subse-* 
quently  be  shown  how  gymnastics  can  have  this  corrective 
effect. 

The  most  distinctive  feature  of  Swedish  work  is  the  fact 
that  it  never  loses  sight  of  the  corrective  element.  This 
is  its  primary  purpose.  G^^jia^tjc__jnoy^m^n^J..which, 
in  themselves,  have  a  marked  tendency  t( 


produce  some  anatomical  fault,  are  rigorously  excluded. 
Even  those  which,  though  not  open  to  this  criticism,  only 
result  in  the  ability  to  do  some  gymnasium  trick  of  little 
or  no  use  in  practical  life  are  relegated  to  a  subordinate 
place.  The  basis  of  training  of  its  teachers  is  kinesiology. 
The  anatomy  of  the  skeleton,  the  joints,  and  the  muscles,  is 
studied  most  carefully,  not,  as  Du  Bois-Reymond  would 
have  us  believe,  in  order  that  the  pupil  may  be  con- 
scious of  what  particular  muscle  he  is  contracting,  but 


14 

because  it  furnishes  the  only  means  of  understanding  the 
effect  of  a  definite  movement  on  the  skeletal  parts,  and  so 
of  estimating  its  corrective  value.  Such  study  is  for  the 
preparation  of  the  teacher,  not  for  the  pupil  on  the  gym- 
nasium floor;  it  is  not  even  necessary  that  the  teacher 
should  think  of  the  kinesiology  of  a  movement  at  the  time 
he  gives  a  command;  but  his  use  of  a  certain  movement 
should  ultimately,  consciously,  or  unconsciously,  rest  on 
this  basis. 

This  characteristic  of  Swedish  work  is  at  once  its  great- 
est strength  and  its  greatest  weakness.  It  is  its  greatest 
strength  because  no  other  physical  trainers  can  show  such 
theoretical  knowledge  of  kinesiology  or  such  successful 
practical  application  of  that  knowledge  in  corrective  work. 
The  Swedes  have  worked  out  this  part  of  the  subject  with 
singleness  of  purpose,  and  they  have  made  the  field  their 
own.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  its  greatest  weakness.  At 
times  individual  teachers  have  forgotten  that  corrective 
work  is  not  the  whole  of  physical  training.  It  has  been 
pushed  to  a  needless  extent  and,  at  times,  to  the  exclusion 
of  outdoor  work,  which  is  more  attractive  and  which  also 
produces  an  amount  of  endurance  which  indoor  corrective 
work  cannot.  Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  these  cor- 
rective exercises  have  at  times  been  given  in  a  manner  that 
strongly  suggests  an  operation  in  orthopedic  surgery  with- 
out anaesthetics.  There  is  a  right  way  and  a  wrong  way  of 
doing  all  things;  and  it  would  be  strange  indeed  if  some 
teachers  had  not  taken  the  wrong  way,  and  failed  to  infuse 
into  their  work  that  personal  element  of  interest  and 
enthusiasm  upon  which  its  success  very  largely  depends. 
I  will  even  go  farther,  and  say  that  there  are  few  fields 
which  offer  such  opportunities  for  the  successful  exercise 
of  all  the  qualities  of  a  bore  as  does  that  of  Swedish  gym- 
nastics. This  follows  from  the  fact  that  it  is  systematic, 
and  anything  systematic  is  peculiarly  liable  to  such  abuse. 


15 

But  this  is  no  valid  argument  against  the  use  of  the  system. 
Is  it  a  valid  argument  against  the  study  of  the  English  lan- 
guage and  literature  that  so  many  of  its  teachers  do  most 
fearfully  and  wonderfully  bore  their  pupils  with  it? 

Having  dealt  with  these  more  general  features  of  the 
problem,  we  may  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  these 
which  have  to  do  with  the  system  itself.  And,  first,  let  us 
say  that  the  Swedes  are  right  in  having  a  system.  The 
"day's  order"  is  the  point  of  most  attacks.  Some  critics 
seem  utterly  unable  to  understand  that  anything  systematic 
should  be  anything  but  monotonous;  and  so  it  would  be, 
were  each  day's  work  like  that  of  each  preceding  day.  The 
"day's  order,"  however,  involves  no  such  idea.  Apart 
from  the  fact  that,  as  the  pupils  work  more  and  more  in 
the  gymnasium,  new  exercises  are  introduced,  —  a  thing  not 
easily  done,  by  the  way,  with  large  numbers  in  the  ordi- 
nary  apparatus  work, —  the  "order"  only  affects  the  gen- 
eral classes  of  movements;  and  within  each  class  of  span- 
bend,  heave,  back,  abdominal  movements,  a  very  large 
amount  of  variety  is  possible,  and,  in  point  of  fact,  is 
utilized  in  the  work  of  different  days.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  a  poor  teacher  can  make  a  Swedish  drill  an  in- 
sufferable bore;  but  a  poor  teacher  can  make  anything  a 
bore,  and  usually  does  so. 

One  of  the  main  points  of  physiological  interest  is  the 
matter  of  progression,  as  seen  from  day  to  day  and  in  the 
day's  order  itself.  As  to  the  former,  all  must  agree  that 
in  any  course  of  training  one  should  begin  with  simpler 
work;  and,  as  the  body  improves  in  physical  condition, 
more  and  more  difficult  work  should  be  attempted.  This 
is  the  essence  of  training.  The  heart,  the  vaso-motor 
system,  the  respiratory  system,  the  mechanism  of  heat 
regulation,  and  the  nervous  co-ordination  of  the  more  fun- 
damental positions  and  movements  must  all  be  trained  by 


use  to  work  together.  Pupils  can  do  the  more  difficult 
exercises  properly  only  as  they  have  become  fitted  to  do 
them  by  having  experienced  the  benefits  of  simpler  work. 
It  is  not  my  purpose  to  show  how  the  Swedish  system  does 
this,  as  I  am  not  aware  that  any  one  has  denied  that  it  is 
capable  of  any  degree  of  refinement  in  this  kind  of  pro- 
gression. I  shall  linger  long  enough  on  the  subject  only 
to  say  that  any  system  of  physical  instruction  should  make 
clear  the  necessity  of  this  factor  of  training  if  the  greatest 
benefits  are  to  be  obtained  from  muscular  exercise  at  any 

J 

time  of  life.  Many  a  man  loudly,  but  ignorantly,  proclaims 
that  exercise  does  not  benefit  him,  simply  because  he  began 
with  a  fifty-mile  bicycle  ride  or  a  hard  bit  of  mountain 
climbing. 

Coming  to  the  second  kind  of  progression,  the  day's 
order  itself,  let  us  say  again  that,  even  if  the  particular 
sequence  of  movements  adopted  is  not  required  by  the 
nature  of  the  case,  it  is  better  in  general  that  the  majority 
of  teachers  shall  have  some  system  to  guide  their  work.  It 
is  putting  it  very  mildly  to  say  that  very  few  teachers  of 
gymnastics  will  ever  have  that  commanding  genius  which 
will  enable  them  to  conduct  classes  upon  the  basis  of 
general  knowledge  of  muscular  exercise;  few  even  have 
that  originality  which  would  enable  them  to  work  out  for 
themselves  a  rational  method  of  work  in  physical  training. 
Even  if  there  were  no  system,  each  teacher  would  inevi- 
tably evolve  one;  in  other  words,  most  teachers  would  soon 
fall  into  certain  ruts;  and  it  is  simply  a  question  whether 
you  are  going  to  have  a  system  which  represents  the  ruts 
into  which  the  individual  mind  has  more  or  less  uncon- 
sciously fallen  or  a  system  which  is  the  result  of  organized 
effort,  both  on  the  theoretical  and  on  the  practical  side,  for 
many  years.  In  other  words,  the  work  of  the  teacher  of 
gymnastics  is  the  practice  of  an  art;  and  it  is  obviously 
better  that  accumulated  experience  should  form  the  basis 


17 

of  work,  even  though  we  grant  at  the  same  time  that  every 
effort  should  be  put  forth  to  encourage  independence  and 
originality. 

The  Swedes  insist  that  their  system  is  based  on  correct 
physiological  principles.  This  may  or  may  not  be  true. 
Advocates  of  the  system  should,  however,  avoid  making 
the  statement  that,  as  a  matter  of  history,  it  was  deduced 
from  the  physiology  of  the  human  body.  The  fact  is  that' 
the  Swedish  system  of  gymnastics  was  for  the  most  part 
developed  to  its  present  form  before  modern  physiology  was 
more  than  in  its  infancy.  Ling  died  in  1839,  and  it  was 
not  until  1860  or  1870  that  the  several  discoveries  of  phys- 
iology began  to  be  co-ordinated  into  a  satisfactory  body  of 
scientific  knowledge.  No  doubt  Ling  and  his  successors 
made  good  use  of  the  physiological  knowledge  they  pos- 
sessed; no  doubt  they  constantly  endeavored  to  work  from 
physiological  knowledge  as  a  starting-point;  no  doubt  they 
subjected  their  work  to  the  best  physiological  criticism 
they  could  give  it;  and  no  doubt  a  great  deal  of  this  was 
good  physiology,  and  produced  good  results.  But,  granting 
all  this,  it  is  not  wise  to  claim  that  the  system  was  de- 
duced from  physiology.  It  is  an  art;  and,  whatever  use 
may  have  been  made  of  pure  science  in  its  development, 
yet,  if  it  is  successful,  that  success  is  quite  sure  to  be  due 
to  practical  experience  of  results, —  the  true  test  of  any  art 
which  deals  with  the  human  body.  A  bridge  can  be  built 
on  the  basis  of  scientific  knowledge  alone,  but  only  be- 
cause we  know  all  about  its  parts  and  can  calculate  exactly 
what  each  one  can  do;  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  a  civil 
engineer  should  design  a  new  kind  of  bridge  which  intro- 
duces entirely  new  features  for  sustaining  the  weight,  and 
yet  know  beforehand  that  the  structure  will  do  exactly  what 
he  expects  of  it.  That  is  one  of  the  highest  triumphs  of 
exact  science.  But  the  science  of  the  workings  of  the 


IS 

human  body,  or  physiology,  has  not  yet  reached  such  a 
degree  of  exactness.  Much  less  had  it  reached  it  in  Ling's 
day.  It  is  with  gymnastics  as  it  is  with  medicine.  Physi- 
ology suggests,  and  often  its  suggestions  are  correct.  It 
aids  in  interpreting  results,  and  so  may  be  an  indispensable 
aid;  but,  after  all,  a  physician  does  a  certain  thing  be- 
cause he  has  done  it  before  and  found  that  it  produced  the 
effect  he  desired.  And  the  practical  teacher  of  gymnastics 
gives  certain  movements  because,  although  what  he  knows 
of  physiology  may  have  suggested  them,  and  although  he 
feels  more  confident  in  using  them,  because  he  believes 
they  are  physiologically  correct,  yet,  after  all,  he  uses  them 
because  he  has  tried  them  in  the  past  and  found  that  they 
work.  And,  if  the  Swedish  system  is  worthy  of  confidence 
as  a  practical  method,  it  is  because  it  rests  ultimately  on 
this  basis. 

I  have  spent  the  time  I  have  in  emphasizing  this  point 
because  I  know  that  incorrect  physiological  claims  have 
been  made  in  support  of  certain  things  done.  Various 
writers  present  us  a  body  of  so-called  physiological  knowl- 
edge which,  to  say  the  least,  does  not  commend  itself  to 
physiologists;  and  I  may  as  well  tell  you  frankly  that,  if 
an  uncandid  opponent  of  the  system  should  desire  to  make 
fun  of  it,  he  would  find  ample  occasion  for  doing  so  in 
many  of  the  physiological  statements  which  have  been 
given  in  explanation  of  its  day's  order.  I  have  seen  this 
done  myself,  and  that  with  most  pronounced  success. 

But  any  one  who  should  make  this  a  reason  for  rejecting 
the  system  in  part  or  in  whole  would  only  advertise  his 
own  lack  of  common  sense.  The  Swedish  system  of  gym- 
nastics, like  every  other  system,  is  not  what  is  written  in 
books,  but  what  is  practised  on  the  floor  of  a  gymnasium. 
As  I  have  said,  it  is  an  art  which  has  been  developed  with 
a  certain  end  in  view,  and  is  built  upon  practical  experi- 
ence of  results.  If  good  results  are  achieved,  the  system 


19 

is   sure   to   rest   to   that    extent   on   a   sound   physiological 
basis. 

Now  the  Swedish  system  does  achieve  good  results. 
Comparison  of  the  entering  Junior  and  the  graduating 
Senior  classes  of  this  school  proves  this, —  not  a  comparison 
of  the  two  classes  during  the  drill  hour  in  the  gymnasium, 
but  more  especially  off  the  gymnasium  floor;  and  I  have 
never  seen  it  questioned  that  the  results  obtained  in 
Sweden  are  eminently  satisfactory,  at  least  from  the  point 
of  view  of  corrective  work.  What,  then,  are  the  strong 
points  of  the  system  which  enable  it  to  pro*luce  its  physi- 
ological effects? 

1.  Every  group  of  muscles  in  the   body  is  given   its  ap- 
propriate functional  activity.      We  have  thus  produced  the 
effects  of  use  upon  these  muscles  and  upon  the  nerve-cells 
which  innervate  them.      The  various  neuro-muscular  mech- 
anisms become  more    perfect  machines,  capable  of    doing 
the  work  demanded  of  them  at   any  time.      In  connection 
with    this    valuable    secondary    effects  are    produced  upon 
other  organs,  such  as  the  aid  to  peristalsis  with  abdominal 
movements,    the    increased    efficiency    of    the    respiratory 
mechanism,-  etc. 

2.  Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  correction  of  faults 
of  posture  by  properly  chosen  contractions  of  the  various 
groups  of  muscles  in  the  body.     The  muscles  adapt  them- 
selves to  the  work  of  the  skeleton,  and  the  skeleton  adapts 
itself  to  the  work  of  the  muscles.     Thus  the  dorsal  muscles 
of  the  neck  will  lengthen  and  the  ventral  muscles  shorten, 
when"  the  weight  of  the  head   is  allowed  to  bend  the  neck 
forward.     When  the  pectoral  muscles  are  exclusively  used 
and  the  pull  they  exert  on  the  shoulders  is  not  corrected  by 
contractions  of  the  muscles  of  the  back,  the  latter  group 
of  muscles  lengthen,  while  origin  and  insertion  of  the  pec- 
torals come  closer  together.      The  result  is  round  shoulders, 


20 

the  skeletal  parts  accommodating  themselves  more  or  less 
to  this  condition.  When  the  erect  posture  is  not  care- 
fully maintained  and  improper  curvatures  of  the  spine 
result,  the  antagonistic  muscles  and  ligaments  of  the  spinal 
column  likewise  acommodate  themselves  to  the  changed 
condition,  those  on  the  concave  side  growing  shorter  and 
those  on  the  convex  side  growing  longer.  Consideration 
of  these  deformities  show  that  they  are  produced  in  two 
ways, —  by  improper  positions  and  by  the  use  of  one  set  of 
muscles  with  concomitant  disuse  of  their  antagonists.  In 
both  cases  one  set  of  muscles  becomes  longer, —  i.e.,  origin 
and  insertion  come  to  lie  further  apart, —  while  the  other 
becomes  shorter, —  i.e.,  origin  and  insertion  come  to  lie 
closer  together. 

The  trouble  is  corrected,  first,  by  such  work  as  will 
passively  stretch  the  shortened  muscles  and  ligaments;  in 
response  to  which  stretching,  they  lengthen.  Thus  the 
correction  of  the  fault  of  round  shoulders  begins  with  the 
stretching  of  the  pectoral  muscles  by  contractions  of  the 
back  muscles  or  by  other  means.  In  addition  to  this, 
we  must  strengthen  by  use  the  muscles  whose  antagonistic 
play  maintains  the  proper  relation  of  the  skeletal  parts,  the 
purpose  of  this  obviously  being  to  make  such  muscles  sus- 
tain the  continuous  contraction  demanded  of  them  without 
undue  fatigue.*  Mere  difference  in  the  strength  of  antag- 
onistic muscles  will  not  of  itself  produce  skeletal  defor- 
mity. Such  deformity  is  apt  to  result,  however,  when  this 
difference  of  strength  goes  to  the  extent  that  one  group  of 
muscles  is  too  weak  to  sustain  efficiently  the  work  de- 

*  Not  only  does  a  fatigued  muscle  exert  a  less  powerful  pull  than  a  fresh  muscle,  but  the 
feeling  of  effort  under  these  conditions  becomes  an  unreliable  indication  of  the  amount  of  work 
done.  If  a  dynamometer  be  arranged  so  as  to  record  the  work  done  at  every  moment  of  the 
effort,  and  not  merely  the  maximum  pull,  it  is  found  that,  toward  the  last,  when  every  effort  is 
being  made  and,  to  judge  from  our  feelings,  with  more  or  less  success  to  add  one  pound  more  to 
the  record,  in  point  of  fact  the  muscle  is  not  doing  half  the  work  it  did  at  first ;  and,  when  we 
remember  what  an  important  part  these  afferent  impulses  of  the  "  muscular  sense  "  must  play  in 
guiding  the  work  of  the  antagonistic  muscles  which  maintain  proper  position,  it  at  once  becomes 
clear  what  a  difference  it  makes  whether  or  not  we  rely  for  such  work  upon  muscles  which  are 
strong  enough  to  sustain  it. 


21 

mandecl  of  them.  When  they  fatigue  in  this  way,  exactly 
the  same  thing  happens  as  in  a  "  tug  of  war,"  when  the 
greater  fatigue  of  one  side  gives  the  victory  to  the  other. 
These  considerations  also  make  it  clear  that,  where  both 
antagonistic  muscles  are  too  weak  and  consequently  relax 
their  support  to  such  skeletal  structures  as  the  vertebral 
column,  skeletal  deformities  may  result,  even  when  the 
muscles  in  question  are  of  equal  strength.  Undoubtedly, 
many  cases  of  improper  curvature  of  the  spine  have  their 
origin  in  this  cause. 

Whether  or  not  this  is  the  complete  physiological  expla- 
nation, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  deformities,  when 
not  too  grave,  can  be  corrected  in  the  manner  indicated; 
and  it  is  in  this  field  that  gymnastic  work  in  our  schools 
does  what  play  alone  cannot  do.  When,  for  example, 
stooped  shoulders  have  been  acquired  by  faulty  position, 
spontaneous  play  gives  no  stimulus  to  bring  about  that 
contraction  of  back  muscles  which  will  correct  the  fault. 
Indeed,  in  many  cases  play  only  accentuates  the  fault 
because  of  the  natural  tendency  to  use  the  stronger  muscles 
and  to  disuse  the  weaker  ones.  This  must  be  especially 
true  of  unregulated  play;  and,  even  with  supervision,  at- 
tention cannot,  in  general,  be  given  to  the  manner  in  which 
a  movement  is  made.  Play  is,  therefore,  not  a  practical 
method  of  corrective  work. 

3.  The  work  not  only  trains  the  neuro-muscular  mechan- 
isms of  isolated  movements  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency, 
but  also  trains  these  mechanisms  to  work  together.  In 
other  words,  it  trains  the  power  of  nervous  co-ordination 
of  movements.  Just  as  the  separate  cells  of  the  body  be- 
come more  efficient  by  being  used,  so  these  cells  learn, 
as  it  were,  to  work  together  by  performing  as  accurately 
as  possible  those  movements  which  call  for  their  co-opera- 
tion. Hence  the  stress  which  is  laid  upon  balance  move- 
ments and  also  upon  the  proper  execution  of  movements 


22 

involving  considerable  co-ordination.  Awkwardness  is, 
for  the  most  part,  only  another  name  for  the  bad  habits 
formed  by  doing  things  in  the  wrong  way.  It  is  avoided 
or  corrected  by  doing  them  in  the  right  way. 
w  Every  effort  is  made,  moreover,  to  facilitate  this  correct 
performance  of  more  or  less  complicated  movements;  and 
it  is  partly  for  this  reason  that  the  element  of  unclue 
fatigue  is  avoided.  The  same  rule  is  insisted  upon  in  one 
of  our  most  successful  methods  of  language  study.  The 
lesson  must  not  exceed  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  must 
be  interrupted  as  soon  as  fatigue  shows  itself.  The  correct 
idiomatic  use  of  the  language  is  acquired  by  the  correct 
repetition  of  the  idioms  of  the  language;  i.e.,  by  the 
acquisition  of  habits  which  can  be  acquired  only  by  cor- 
rect use;  to  attempt  to  speak  these  idioms  when  one  is 
fatigued  with  previous  study  means  that  a  large  percentage 
of  them  will  be  incorrectly  given,  with  the  result  that,  if 
bad  habits  are  not  acquired,  the  mental  path  of  easiest 
conduction  for  the  correct  habit  is  no  longer  the  clear  and 
unmistakable  one  it  should  be.  Precisely  the  same  thing 
is  true  of  what  may  be  called  the  grosser  movements  of  the 
body.  To  do  them  correctly  is  to  blaze  a  clear  and  unmis- 
takable trail  of  nervous  conduction.  To  do  them  incor- 
rectly is  to  confuse  that  trail  with  misleading  signs  which 
must  be  unlearned. 

A  very  striking  feature  of  the  highly  co-ordinated  move- 
ments used  in  the  Swedish  gymnastics  is  the  fact  that  so 
many  of  them  are  performed  with  one  or  both  feet  on  the 
ground  and  supporting  the  weight  of  the  body.  Such  is 
the  case  with  all  balance  movements.  The  significance  of 
this  is  at  once  seen  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is  exactly 
this  co-ordination  which  is  of  greatest  use  in  every-day  life. 
An  equally  great  sum  total  of  co-ordination  is  required  by 
the  more  difficult  feats  on  the  horizontal  or  parallel  bars  or 
the  trapeze;  but  the  skill  thus  acquired  is  useful,  for  the 


23 

greater  part,  only  in  the  performance  of  similar  tricks  on 
such  pieces  of  apparatus.  I  can  personally  recall  cases  of 
men  who  were  most  excellent  athletes  of  this  kind  and  yet 
whose  gait  was  anything  but  graceful.  Now  it  is  a  legiti- 
mate demand  on  any  gymnastic  training  in  schools  that  it 
shall  produce  not  only  correct  proportions  of  the  body  at 
rest,  but  also  graceful  carriage  of  the  body  in  locomotion; 
and  the  principle  of  training  by  use  shows  us  clearly  that 
this  is  to  be  accomplished  chiefly  by  the  use  of  movements 
and  positions  in  which,  the  weight  of  the  body  bejng  sup- 
ported on  the  feet,  equilibrium  must  be  maintained  m^ 
d  ifficu_lt_pQ-£it4on  s . 

4.  The  need  for  training  to  do  the  more  difficult  work 
is  kept_jn  view.      Students  attempt  particular  .movements 
only  as  they  are  provided   with   the  proper  physiological 
agents  therefor  by  previous  work.     The  exercises,  in  other 
words,  progress   from    the    simpler  to   the    more    difficult, 
and  are  so  chosen  that  the  former  directly  prepare  for  the 
latter.      No  other  work  compares  with  the  Swedish   in  this 
respect. 

5.  Full   and   free   respiration    is   always    insisted   upon. 
In  many  forms  of  physical  exertion  there  is  a  tendency  to 
diminish  or  even  suppress  entirely  for  a  time  the  respira- 
tory movements.      At   times,  of  course,  this  is  absolutely 
necessary,  as  when,  in  lifting  heavy  weights  by  the  arms, 
the  thorax  must   be  made  rigid  to  assure  a  firm  point  of 
origin  for  the  working  muscles.      The  condition    is   even 
then,   however,    objectionable   from   the  standpoint   of  the 
organism  as  a  whole.      Probably  one  of  the  chief  benefits 
of  muscular  exercise  is  brought  about  through  the  accom- 
panying increase  in  the  breathing  movements.     We  cannot 
at  present  positively  affirm  or  deny  that  this  is  because  of 
the   increased   amount    of    oxygen    taken    to    the    tissues,* 

*  We  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  merely  increasing  the  ventilation  of  the  lungs  does  not 
increase  the  percentage  of  oxygen  in  the  blood  nor  the  amount  taken  up  by  the  tissues.  The  tis- 
sues do  not  take  more  oxygen  because  more  enters  the  lungs.  On  the  contrary,  their  consump- 


24 

although  such  an  explanation  is  frequently  given  with  an 
assurance  which  betrays  complete  ignorance  of  some  well- 
known  physiological  literature.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  the  respiratory  movements  produce  other 
effects  upon  the  organism  than  ventilation  of  the  lungs. 
They  aid  in  the  return  of  blood  to  the  heart;  and  they  are 
an  important  factor,  if  not  the  most  important  factor,  in 
causing  the  .flow  of  lymph  in  the  lymphatics.  Thus  their 
increase  during  muscular  exercise  aids  the  heart  at  a  time 
when  it  is  apt  to  be  overworked,  and  increases  largely 
the  flow  of  lymph,  not  from  the  working  organs  alone, 
but  from  all  organs  of  the  body.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
describe  the  physiological  importance  of  the  lymph  flow. 
Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  there  is  good  reason  to  believe 
that  a  good,  steady  lymph  flow  from  an  organ  is  an  impor- 
tant condition  of  its  healthy  nutrition,  and  that  the  increase 
of  lymph  flow  from  all  organs  of  the  body  brought  about 
through  the  increased  respiratory  movements  is  one  of  the 
chief  agents  through  which  muscular  exercise  favorably 
affects  the  body  as  a  whole. 

It  is,  therefore,  quite  conceivable  that  the  breathing 
movements  may  be  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  oxygen 
needed  for  muscular  work  and  to  remove  the  large  amounts 
of  carbon  dioxide  produced  thereby,  and  yet  not  be  the  aid 
to  the  circulation  of  blood  nor  to  the  flow  of  lymph  that 
they  should  be;  and,  if  this  be  true,  it  is  a  proper  function 

tion  of  oxygen  is  conditioned  upon  the  amount  of  chemical  change  taking  place  in  them ;  and  this, 
in  turn,  is  largely  dependent  upon  their  work.  It  is  almost  certainly,  moreover,  a  mistake  to 
assume  that  during  muscular  exercise  all  cells  of  the  body  profit  by  a  quickened  circulation  and  a 
more  ready  access  to  oxygen ;  the  percentage  of  oxygen  in  arterial  blood  being  practically  con- 
stant, the  amount  of  oxygen  offered  any  organ  will  be  determined  by  the  amount  of  blood  flowing 
through  it,  and  not  by  the  ventilation  of  the  lungs ;  indeed,  we  know  that,  in  general,  the  blood 
supply  to  internal  organs  is  distinctly  diminished  during  muscular  exercise,  in  order  to  compen- 
sate for  the  increased  supply  to  the  muscles  and  the  skin.  Whenever  there  is  an  increased  amount 
of  blood  flowing  through  an  organ,  more  oxygen  will,  it  is  true,  be  offered  to  its  cells,  but  it  will  be 
taken  up  by  them  only  as  their  chemical  processes  call  for  it.  We  have,  moreover,  good  reason 
to  think  that  the  mechanism  of  respiration,  including  the  heart,  provides,  under  ordinary  condi- 
tions, far  more  oxygen  than  even  the  working  tissue  can  use.  The  blood  leaving  an  organ  fre- 
quently, if  not  generally,  has  half  the  oxygen  with  which  it  entered  the  organ ;  and  this  remains 
true  even  when  the  organ  is  working,  the  increased  blood-flow  being  more  than  sufficient  to  com- 
pensate for  the  increased  consumption  of  oxygen. 


of  physical  training  to  train  the  power  of  full  and  free  res- 
piration under  all  possible  conditions.  It  is  a  matter  of 
common  experience  that  there  is  a  marked  tendency  to  in- 
sufficient respiration  whenever  work  presents  the  least  ele- 
ment of  effort.  I  have  seen  this  frequently  among  bicy- 
clists in  going  up  even  slight  inclines;  they  seem  to  put 
all  their  energy  into  volitional  muscular  contractions 
and  to  have  little  left  for  respiration;  respiration  is,  as 
it  were,  held  in  abeyance  until  the  effort  is  over;  and  then 
they  must  stop  to  "puff  and  blow."  Now  it  is  just  as 
,easy — -nay,  easier — to  maintain  full  and  deep  respiratory 
movements  during  the  performance  of  most  work;  and, 
when  this  is  done,  there  is  less  of  subsequent  fatigue. 
Moreover,  as  I  have  attempted  to  show,  the  general  hy- 
gienic effects  of  the  exercise  are  most  probably  enhanced 
by  this  deep  breathing.  It  would,  indeed,  seem  that  all 
considerations  point  to  the  advisability  of  gymnastic  train- 
ing cultivating  the  habit  of  deep  breathing;  and,  whether 
the  Swedes  give  the  correct  reason  for  the  practice  or  not, 
it  is  a  fact  that  its  importance  is  everywhere  recognized  in 
their  practical  work.  The  mobility  of  the  ribs  is  kept  at 
its  maximum,  the  capacity  of  the  thorax  is  enlarged  where 
that  is  possible  or  advisable,  while  the  special  respiratory 
exercises  do  their  part  in  training  the  breathing  mechanism 
to  the  full  measure  of  its  working  capacity. 

6.  The  carrying  out  of  definite  movements  with  accuracy 
and  precision  is  a  training  in  volitional  control.  It  in- 
creases the  efficiency  of  the  mechanism  of  skilled  move- 
ments. One  who  has  had  such  training  in  carrying  out 
great  numbers  of  movements  at  the  word  of  command  can  do 
with  the  muscles  what  it  is  unlikely  that  he  would  be  able 
to  do  otherwise.  The  body  becomes  more  "supple,"  which 
means  largely  that  the  number  of  its  possible  movements 
is  largely  increased,  or,  more  correctly  expressed,  the  num- 
ber of  its  possible  movements  is  not  reduced  as  life  ad- 


•  26 

vances,  and  we  tend  to  limit  the  movements  of  the  body  to 
the  few  which  some  sedentary  occupation  calls  for.  It 
prevents  the  narrowing  of  the  field  of  volitional  control, 
and  it  is  especially  important  that  the  field  of  volitional 
control  shall  not  be  narrowed  during  the  period  of  develop- 
ment. 

To  prevent  any  misconception,  it  may  be  well  to  state 
clearly  that  this  increase  of  volitional  control  does  not 
mean  that  a  person  can  at  once  perform  some  new  kind  of 
work  as  well  as  those  who  have  become  accustomed  to  that 
work  by  long  practice.  Almost  all  special  kinds  of  work 
involve  the  more  or  less  constant  use  of  certain  groups  of 
muscles,  or  else,  as  in  swimming  or  rowing,  they  involve 
the  acquisition  by  practice  of  a  co-ordinated  nervous  mech- 
anism of  accustomed  movements.  A  man  with  such  com- 
plete volitional  control  will  have  to  strengthen  still  more 
the  muscles  which  rowing,  for  example,  involves;  he  will 
also  have  to  acquire  the  nervous  mechanism  of  the  move- 
ment; but  he  can  learn  to  row  accurately  and  easily  sooner 
and  with  less  expenditure  of  effort  than  can  a  man  without 
such  volitional  control. 

This  effect  is  of  psychological  importance.  Health  de- 
pends on  exercise,  and  whether  we  are  inclined  to  take 
exercise  or  not  depends  partly  on  the  use  we  can  make  of 
our  bodies.  Exercise  is  necessarily  monotonous  to  the 
man  who  has  but  few  muscles  to  use,  few  movements  to 
make.  There  is  an  impulse  to  take  the  exercise  that  health 
demands  when  the  individual  has  the  conscious  power  which 
comes  from  volitional  control  of  many  movements.  In 
other  words,  there  is  a  love  of  movement,  natural  to  the 
child,  and  a  priceless  possession  from  the  hygienic  point 
of  view  to  the  adult,  which  we  should  never  allow  to  slip 
away  from  us. 

7.  In  a  later  portion  of  this  paper  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  discuss  the  relations  to  each  other  of  the  two  pur- 


poses  of  physical  training,  corrective  work  and  the  general 
hygienic  effects  of  exercise,  as  well  as  the  extent  to  which 
the  day's  order  fulfils  the  latter  purpose.  We  may  here 
anticipate  these  discussions,  however,  merely  to  say  that 
Swedish  gymnastics,  properly  done,  produce  in  a  high 
degree  those  general  effects  of  exercise  which  favorably 
affect  the  health  of  the  organism  as  a  whole. 

I  must  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  each  of  the 
above  seven  objects  is  accomplished  only  by  Swedish  gym- 
nastics. Some  of  them  are  distinctive,  while  others  are 
not.  The  essential  characteristic  of  Swedish  work  is  that 
it  aims  at  and  secures  in  a  remarkable  degree  all  these  re- 
sults; and  I  believe  that  the  secret  of  its  success  is  to  be 
sought  here  rather  than  in  minor  details  of  the  "day's 
order,"  which  is  simply  the  practical  method  adopted  of 
achieving  these  physiological  ends. 

The  exact  form  of  the  "day's  order"  is  not  simply  the 
expression  of  a  physiological  idea.  Certain  things  are 
done  because  they  are  the  most  feasible  under  given  con- 
ditions. Moreover,  in  gymnasium  work  there  is  a  psychical 
as  well  as  a  purely  physiological  element;  and  nothing  can 
be  worse  than  to  neglect  this  in  practice;  a  class  is  not 
put  directly  to  executing  back  or  lateral  trunk  movements; 
the  effect  of  such  a  course  upon  the  interest  of  the  class  in 
its  work  had  better  be  left  to  the  imagination.  It  is,  more- 
over, only  partly  for  physiological  reasons  that  each  move- 
ment is  given  at  the  time  when  it  can  best  be  performed 
or  least  interfere,  by  introducing  the  element  of  fatigue  or 
otherwise,  with  the  proper  execution  of  other  movements. 
Any  explanation  of  the  work  must  therefore  take  account 
of  other  considerations  than  those  which  are  purely  physio- 
logical. 

The  exercises  of  the  day's  order  may  be  classified  as 
follows:  — 


1.  Introductory  movements,  which  include  order  movements  and 
movements  of  the  extremities. 

2.  Span-bending  movements. 

3.  Heave  movements. 

4.  Balance  movements. 

5.  Back  movements. 

6.  Abdominal  movements. 

7.  Lateral  trunk  movements. 

8.  Running,  jumping,  vaulting,  and  games. 

9.  Slow-leg  and  respiratory  movements. 

The  common  nomenclature  is  retained  as  far  as  possible, 
although  certain  objections  may  be  made  to  it.  Indeed, 
the  names  are  denotative  rather  than  connotative;  and,  so 
long  as  this  is  understood,  there  is  but  little  objection  to 
the  use  of  the  common  terms.  I  have,  however,  dropped 
the  old  term  "leg  movements,"  and  substituted  therefor  the 
more  accurate  term,  movements  of  the  extremities.  The  old 
term  is  not  only  misleading,  but  is  associated  with  certain 
very  questionable  physiological  explanations,  and  should 
be  abandoned. 

Postponing  for  the  moment  the  description  of  these 
classes  of  movements  and  the  reasons  for  their  sequence, 
we  may  classify  the  exercises  of  the  "clay's  order"  from 
the  physiological  point  of  view,  as  follows:  — 

Span-bending 
Heave 

Activities  of  limited  motor  mechanisms   .     .     .     .       ^ 

Abdominal 

Lateral  trunk 
^  Extremities 

2.  Activities  involving  a  high  degree  of  general  co-  J        Balance 

ordination ''If  VaultinS 

3.  ( reneral  bodily  activities  of  considerable   intensity      J    •! 

Running 

(^  Games 

The  order  movements  have  been  omitted  from  this  classi- 
fication because  they  are  not  of  physiological  importance; 


29 

likewise,  the  slow-leg  and  respiratory  movements,  because 
of  the  very  special  function  for  which  they  are  used.  The 
purpose  of  the  first  group  is  to  correct  or  prevent  deformi- 
ties; of  the  second,  to  give  ease  and  grace  of  carriage;  of 
the  third,  to  produce  as  far  as  possible  the  general  hygienic 
effects  of  exercise.  Finally,  the  three  groups  overlap  to 
a  very  considerable  extent. 

The  term  activity  is  used  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  it  is 
not  simply  the  muscles  which  are  being  trained,  but  the 
nervous  system  as  well.  Indeed,  it  is  more  than  this;  for 
still  other  organs,  notably  those  of  the  vascular  and  Fespira- 
tory  systems,  take  part  in  such  muscular  work. 

The  course  of  the  day's  order  and  tne  reasons  for  using 
each  kind  of  movement  at  its  particular  time  may  then  be 
given  as  follows  :  — 

I.  Introductory  Exercises. —  Included  under  this  head  are 
a  great  number  of  movements  which  have  previously  been 
classified  under  order  movements  and  leg  movements.  The 
term  order  movements  really  denotes  the  purpose  rather  than 
the  character  of  the  movement.  They  have  been  described 
as  " intended  to  attract  the  minds  of  the  pupils  to  the 
approaching  gymnastic  work;  to  induce  them  to  assume 
that  fundamental  position  and  carriage  best  suited  to  the 
physiological  interests  of  the  body,  from  which  other  gym- 
nastic movements  start  and  to  which  they  return  before  a 
relaxed  position  of  rest  is  assumed."  There  can  be  no 
question  that  a  large  number  of  exercises  do  actually  serve 
this  purpose,  and  that  the  ordinary  drill  begins  with  them; 
and  I  can  see  no  objection  to  the  continued  use  of  this  term 
to  indicate  the  purpose  of  many  of  the  introductory  com- 
mands of  the  day's  order.  On  the  other  hand,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  the  term  does  not  describe  the  character  of  the 
movement  as  do  the  others;  nor  do  order  movements  con- 
stitute a  well-defined  class  of  exercises.  To  the  term  leg 


30 

movements  I  have  two  objections :  it  gives  a  false  impres- 
sion of  the  real  character  of  the  work,  and  it  is  connected 
historically  with  what  is  quite  indefensible  physiology. 
With  regard  to  the  latter  objection,  I  have  no  intention  of 
discussing  the  point  here.  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is 
not  to  discuss  what  has  been  written  about  the  Swedish 
system,  but  to  describe  what  it  is  in  actual  practice  on  the 
floor  of  the  gymnasium.  I  shall  therefore  confine  my- 
self to  the  statement  of  what  is  done  during  this  part  of  the 
day's  order  and  the  physiological  results  achieved  thereby. 
As  to  fhe  former  objection,  while  it  is  perfectly  true  that 
leg  movements  are  used  and  form  a  large  percentage  of  the 
work  done,  yet  it  is  also  true  that  movements  of  the  neck, 
shoulder,  and  arm,  are  used  often  simultaneously  with  those 
of  the  legs.  The  former  have,  no  doubt,  been  regarded  as 
order  movements,  and,  as  used,  serve  this  purpose;  but  they 
serve  other  purposes  as  well.  The  stretching  of  the  shoul- 
der muscles,  for  example,  which  is  the  most  prominent 
characteristic  of  the  various  "arm  extensions,"  has  a  very 
important  corrective  effect  upon  the  form  of  the  shoulder 
region;  and,  while  it  may  be  claimed  that  this  is  included 
in  the  statement  about  order  movements  that  "they  are  in- 
tended to  induce  the  pupils  to  assume  that  carriage  best 
suited  to  the  physiological  interests  of  the  body,"  yet  w»e 
should  then  be  compelled  to  include  in  the  same  category 
span-bend,  heave,  and  back  movements, —  in  short,  all  activ- 
ities of  limited  mechanisms  which  correct  faults  of  posture 
and  carriage.  Moreover,  these  leg  movements  would  then 
not  form,  as  a  matter  of  sequence,  a  separate  class  from 
order  movements;  and,  finally,  the  movements  of  the  upper 
extremities  play  their  part  —  and  a  very  considerable  part  it 
is  —  in  the  redistribution  of  blood,  which  has  been  improp- 
erly attributed  to  leg  movements  alone. 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  should  describe  more  accurately 
what  is  done  by  grouping  both  under  the  head  of  introduc- 


tory  exercises ',  which  have  two  objects  in  vjievv :  first,  to 
serve  the  general  purpose  of  order  movements;  and,  sec- 
ondly, by  calling  into  use  the  largest  muscular  masses  of 
the  body,  to  produce,  without  undue  fatigue,  some  of  the 
most  important  results  of  muscular  exercise,  among  which 
may  be  especially  noted  a  marked  redistribution  of  the 
blood,  more  going  to  the  working  muscles  and  the  skin  and 
less  to  abdominal  organs.  Such  work  is  not  so  specialized 
as  that  which  immediately  follows,  and  for  this  reason  is 
most  suitable  for  beginning  the  lesson.  Incidentally,  it 
serves  corrective  purposes,  both  in  the  training  of  simpler 
motor  mechanisms  and  also  to  some  extent  in  co-ordination. 

2.  Span-bending  movements,  which  consist  of  certain  back- 
ward flexions  of  the  trunk  which  have  the  effect  of  straight- 
ening the  thoracic  region  of  the  spine,  of  vaulting  the  chest 
forward,  and  of  increasing  the  chest  capacity  and  mobility 
of  the  ribs. 

3.  Heave  movements,  which   consist   of  various   exercises 
in  a  hanging  position  and  others  which  have  the  effect  of 
expanding  the  upper  part  of  the  chest  by  lifting  it  upward. 
Incidentally,  they  also  develop  the  arms  and  upper  trunk 
muscles.       Heave    movements    follow    span-bending    move- 
ments,  because  they  are   more  vigorous   in   character;   and 
it  is  claimed  that,  as  a  matter  of  experience,  they  are  apt  to 
produce    a   certain   amount   of    soreness    in    the    abdominal 
muscles,  which  is  for  the  most  part  avoided,  if  they  are  pre- 
ceded by  span-bending  movements. 

In  these  first  three  movements  a  considerable  amount  of 
work  has  been  done,  the  intensity  of  the  work  increasing  to 
a  maximum  in  the  heave  movements.  This  work  involves 
-indeed,  is  the  result  —  of  katabolic  muscular  changes 
which  produce  heat  and  discharge  on  the  lymph  and  blood 
large  quantities  of  waste  substances.  The  body  reacts  tcr- 
these  conditions,  and  the  general  physiological  results  of 
exercise  follow.  These  are  directed  primarily  to  getting 


32 

rid  of  waste  products;  incidentally,  they  provide  food  and 
oxygen  for  the  anabolic  processes  which  at  once  begin  to 
make  good  the  loss  of  muscular  fuel  substance.  In  order 
to  get  rid  of  the  heat,  the  cutaneous  arterioles  dilate,  and 
the  secretion  of  perspiration  is  greatly  increased;  these 
agents  are  aided  by  the  increased  volume  of  air  heated  in 
the  lungs  and  the  increased  evaporation  of  water  from  the 
surfaces  of  the  respiratory  tract.  The  temperature  of  the 
blood  rises  slightly,  though  perhaps  not  more  than  a  degree 
centigrade.  In  order  to  get  rid  of  the  carbon-dioxide,  the 
breathing  movements  and  the  rate  of  the  heart-beat  are 
increased;  the  circulation  through  the  lungs  is  conse- 
quently quickened,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  the 
amount  of  blood  flowing  through  all  organs  of  the  body  is 
increased.  In  point  of  fact,  the  arterioles  of  the  intestine, 
the  kidney,  and  probably  the  liver  and  spleen,  constrict, 
thus  diminishing  the  blood-flow  through  them.  It  is  prob- 
able, though  not  proved,  that  the  blood-flow  through  the 
brain  is  usually  somewhat  increased,  though  at  times  it  may 
be  unchanged  or  even  diminished.  In  all  these  vascular 
changes  the  cardiac,  the  vaso-constrictor,  the  vaso-dilator 
centres  work  together,  so  as  to  maintain  the  aortic  pressure 
at  the  normal  height  or  somewhat  above  it.  The  pump- 
ing action  of  the  contracting  muscles  aids  in  the  flow  of 
blood  and  lymph  away  from  them ;  and  the  augmented 
respiratory  movements,  by  increasing  the  aspiration  of  the 
thorax,  aids  the  return  of  blood  and  lymph  from  all  organs. 
Especially  important  is  this  effect  upon  the  lymph-flow, 
since  an  increased  lymph-flow  from  an  organ  means  in- 
creased circulation  of  lymph  in  the  tissue  spaces  around  the 
cells,  and  hence  a  more  equal  and  rapid  distribution  over 
the  surface  of  the  cell  of  the  food  material  and  oxygen 
derived  from  the  capillaries,  and  a  more  effective  return  of 
waste  products  to  the  capillary  wall  for  removal.  Other 
organs  are  thrown  into  activity  to  complete  the  oxidation  of 


33 

certain  katabolic  products  of  muscular  activity;  and  the 
presence  of  an  increased  amount  of  some  of  these  products 
in  the  blood  changes  the  chemical  character  of  the  blood, 
and  so  the  environment  of  all  cells  of  the  body.  It  is, 
moreover,  not  improbable  that,  so  long  as  these  are  not 
present  in  excessive  amounts,  the  changes  thus  produced 
may  favor  the  healthy  life  of  other  cells;  muscular  activ- 
ity would,  from  this  point  of  view,  produce  an  internal  se- 
cretion ;  but  the  matter  needs  further  experimental  study. 

These  are  the  general  physiological  effects  of  all  muscu- 
lar exercise,  and  their  amount  is  proportional  to  the  inten- 
sity of  the  exercise  taken.  It  is  to  them  that  the  "freshen- 
ing "  effects  of  exercise  are  due.  The  movements  of  the 
extremities,  span -bend  movements,  and  heave  movements, 
therefore,  in  addition  to  the  special  corrective  function 
which  each  performs,  by  calling  into  play  large  groups  of 
muscles  serve  the  additional  purpose  of  "freshening  up" 
the  class  without  producing  such  fatigue  as  may  interfere 
with  the  proper  execution  of  subsequent  co-ordinative  or 
corrective  movements;  and  it  is  only  after  these  are  given 
that  the  general  physiological  effects  are  pushed  to  their 
maximum  point  of  intensity  in  vaulting,  jumping,  running, 
and  games. 

In  accordance  with  this  plan  we  now  pass  to 

4.  Balance  movements,  "which  bring  about  a  co-ordina- 
tion of  muscular  contraction  in  all  parts  of  the  body,  and  by 
demanding  equilibrium  in  difficult  positions  train  the  sense 
of  correct  and  graceful  posture."  Movements  of  the  ex- 
tremities, back  and  lateral  trunk  movements,  and  others 
involve  co-ordination  of  muscular  contraction  in  all  parts  of 
the  body,  and  hence  are  to  that  extent  balance  movements. 
The  training  of  the  sense  of  equilibrium,  in  other  words,  is 
not  confined  to  this  part  of  the  day's  order,  but  is  merely  its 
chief  feature  and  special  purpose. 

Balance  movements  are  introduced  at   this  time  for  sev- 


34 

eral  reasons.  They  make  an  agreeable  change  in  the  nature 
of  the  work,  which  in  the  immediately  preceding  move- 
ments has  been  confined  to  activities  of  limited  motor 
mechanisms;  since  more  of  these  follow  in  the  various 
trunk  movements,  a  certain  amount  of  monotony  in  the 
general  character  of  the  work  is  avoided.  Moreover,  no 
muscles  important  in  maintaining  equilibrium  on  the  feet 
have  been  worked  very  hard;  and  hence,  in  the  absence'of 
local  and  general  fatigue,  finer  co-ordinative  work  can  be 
executed.  Finally,  balance  movements  throw  most  work 
on  the  leg  muscles,  and  hence  to  a  certain  extent  rest  the 
trunk,  which,  having  been  concerned  in  heave  movements, 
has  still  to  perform  those  movements  which  involve  the 
various  flexions  of  the  spinal  column.  When  the  various 
balance  movements  have  once  been  learned,  they  are  profit- 
ably introduced  elsewhere,  and  especially  where  fatigue  is 
present;  their  use  in  that  case  trains  still  more  the  sense 
of  equilibrium  in  difficult  positions.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  they  should  first  be  learned  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions  before  being  used  under  unfavorable  conditions. 

The  previous  corrective  movements  of  limited  motor 
mechanisms  have  to  deal  with  muscles  which  act  upon  the 
upper  ribs  or  with  their  immediate  antagonists.  After 
balance  movements  we  pass  to  a  group, —  (5)  back,  (6)  ab- 
dominal, and  (7)  lateral  trunk  movements,  which  produce 
flexions  of  the  spine  (dorsal,  ventral,  and  lateral).  Such 
movements  not  only  train  the  use  of  the  muscles  concerned, 
but  are  also  the  chief  means  of  correcting  and  preventing 
faults  in  the  growth  of  the  spine.  This  is  especially  true 
of  back  movements,  which  also  correct  the  carriage  of  the 
shoulder  blades.  In  addition  to  this,  abdominal  and  lateral 
trunk  movements,  "by  alternating  increase  and  decrease  of 
abdominal  pressure,  favorably  affect  the  work  of  the  di- 
gestive organs. " 

The  comparatively  short  space  devoted  to  the  description 


35 

of  these  three  classes  of  movements  does  not  indicate  their 
relative  importance  in  the  day's  order.  In  point  of  fact, 
they  are  surpassed  by  no  other  class  in  corrective  value. 
Through  them  we  secure  correct  carriage  of  the  trunk, 
depending,  as  this  does,  upon  the  proper  play  of  the  great 
groups  of  antagonistic  muscles  especially  concerned  in  and 
strengthened  by  such  movements;  and  it  is  the  weakening 
of  these  muscles  through  disuse  which  is  the  chief  cause  of 
the  tendency  to  "slump,"  against  which  a  recent  magazine 
editorial  enters  a  timely  protest,  as  being  all  too  character- 
istic of  American  life. 

The  order  in  which  they  are  given  is,  for  the  most  part, 
immaterial. 

8.  Vaulting,  Jumping,  Running,  and  Games.  —  These  ex- 
ercises at  the  same  time  command  a  high  degree  of  co-ordi- 
nated muscular  action  and  constitute  the  most  severe  work 
of  the  day's  order.  The  previous  balance  movements  train 
the  sense  of  what  has  been  called  "statical  "  equilibrium,  or 
equilibrium  of  the  body  at  rest.  Vaulting  and  jumping, 
on  the  other  hand,  train  the  sense  of  "dynamical  "  equilib- 
rium, or  equilibrium  of  the  body  in  motion,  and  in  this 
case  of  motion  which  involves  considerable  muscular  work. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  they  are  not  features 
peculiar  to  Swedish  gymnastics,  and  that  they  serve  the 
same  purpose,  no  matter  by  whom  used.  They  form,  in 
fact,  an  indispensable  part  of  all  gymnastic  training.  The 
greatest  stress,  however,  should  be  laid  on  the  proper  exe- 
cution of  the  movements.  It  is  not,  for  instance,  the 
'height  of  the  jump  which  is  of  importance,  but  the  way  in 
which  it  is  carried  out  and  the  proper  landing  which  fol- 
lows. In  addition  to  the  co-ordinative  value  of  these 
movements,  they,  together  with  running  and  games,  involve 
rather  intense  physical  work,  and  produce  in  the  highest 
degree  the  general  physiological  effects  of  muscular  exer- 
cise already  described.  These  effects  are  allowed  to  "ap- 


36 

proach,  but   never  to  exceed,  the  limit  where  breathlessness 
in  its  graver  form  sets  in.  " 

9.  Sloiv-leg  and  respiratory  movements. —  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that,  on  stopping  suddenly  any  very  vigorous 
exercise,  certain  disagreeable  symptoms  are  apt  to  result. 
These  are  characterized  by  a  very  evident  heart-beat,  at 
times  grave  breathlessness,  and  feelings  of  fulness  about 
the  head,  in  which  the  throbbing  of  the  pulse  can  often  be 
distinctly  felt.  These  symptoms  are  most  pronounced  im- 
mediately upon  stopping, —  at  least  it  is  at  that  time  that 
they  most  affect  consciousness.  For  the  present  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  understand  that  at  times  symptoms  of  distress  fol- 
low exercise,  and  that  in  practically  all  cases  which  do  not 
involve  actual  exhaustion,  these  symptoms  are  much  less 
pronounced  —  so  far,  at  least,  as  consciousness  is  concerned 
—  if  we  do  not  stop  at  once,  but  gradually  pass  from  the 
more  intense  work  through  less  intense  forms  to  rest. 
This  is  a  recognized  practice  in  the  care  of  horses.  No 
jockey  is  allowed  to  stop  a  horse  immediately  after  the 
finish  of  a  race,  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  popular 
impression  that  such  a  course  is  more  or  less  apt  to  produce 
temporary  or  permanent  injury  to  the  animal  is  entirely 
without  basis  in  fact.  It  cannot  be  said  that  all  severe 
work  is  sure  to  be  followed  by  symptoms  of  distress,  nor 
need  we  be  surprised  to  find  that  these  symptoms  may  or 
may  not  appear  under  what  seem  at  first  sight  identical  con- 
ditions. In  a  class  of  twenty  people,  perhaps  not  more 
than  half  would  show  marked  distress  after  a  given  run,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  the  same  work  may  be  severe  to  one 
and  easy  to  another;  and  in  the  same  individual  the  same 
work  may  be  severe  one  day  and  easy  the  next.  But,  grant- 
ing all  this,  it  would  seem  a  safe  course  to  avoid  this  dis- 
tress as  far  as  possible;  we  do  not  know  that  it  is  always 
harmful;  but  it  looks  suspicious,  and  we  certainly  do  not 
know  that  it  is  never  harmful.  The  history  of  many  patho- 


37 

logical  conditions  of  the  heart  and  the  circulation  points 
too  clearly  to  excessive  muscular  work  as  having  to  do  with 
their  causation  to  justify  us  in  ignoring  any  warning  that 
may  accompany  such  work.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
severe  exercises  of  the  day  are  immediately  followed  by 
slow-leg  movements  (such  as  comparatively  rapid  march- 
ing), accompanied  or  followed  by  respiratory  movements. 
The  reason  usually  given  for  this  —  that  " the  accelerated 
action  of  the  heart  must  be  normalized  "  and  "free  respira- 
tion restored"  -is  unsatisfactory.  The  accelerated  heart 
action  will,  in  point  of  fact,  come  back  to  the  normal  if  the 
organism  be  left  to  itself;  and  free  respiration  will  also  be 
restored.  It  seems  much  more  accurate  to  say  that  these 
movements  afford  very  great  assistance  to  the  heart  in 
maintaining  an  efficient  circulation.  They  thus  prevent  dis- 
tress, and  hence,  no  doubt,  danger,  while  the  organism  is 
adjusting  itself  to  the  changed  conditions  of  rest. 

As  I  have  said,  it  cannot  be  claimed  that  these  move- 
ments are  necessary  in  all  cases.  They  are  probably  un- 
necessary, for  example,  in  very  strong  individuals,  in  whom 
vigorous  work  does  not  produce  the  cardiac  acceleration 
seen  in  those  not  so  strong ;  but  they  are  advisable  with  the 
majority  of  people,  and  probably  necessary  with  a  large 
number.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  mission  of  gym- 
nastics is  not  primarily  to  the  athlete,  nor  is  its  chief  pur- 
pose the  training  of  athletes.  In  accomplishing  the  pur- 
poses of  physical  training  outlined  in  the  beginning  of  this 
paper,  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  cultivation  of 
great  strength  is  necessary;  nor,  in  view  of  the  conditions  of 
life  among  people  to-day,  is  it  desirable.  The  athlete  is  as 
much  a  specialist  as  the  student  of  Sanskrit  literature;  and 
the  great  muscular  strength  and  bodily  endurance  under 
physical  strain  which  is  his  specialty  is  no  more  necessary 
for  the  health  of  the  business  man  or  student  than  is  a  thor- 
ough training  in  astronomy  or  physics  to  the  athlete  as 


such.  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  attempt  to 
cultivate  a  healthy  sentiment  for  rational  physical  training 
among  people  generally  by  means  of  the  athletic  ideal 
alone.  So  far  from  encouraging  the  rational  use  of  exer- 
cise by  all,  it  certainly  at  times  tends  to  discourage  it, 
simply  because  the  ideal  is  unattainable  to  the  vast  majority 
of  men,  and  it  is  entirely  out  of  place  among  women.  The 
Swedes  have  avoided  this  error  successfully.  Without 
discouraging  athletics,  they  recognize  that  the  athlete  is  a 
specialist,  and  that  there  is  a  physical  training  needed  by 
all  classes, —  by  people  who  can  never  be  athletes,  the  vast 
majority  of  whom  react  less  rapidly  and  less  perfectly  to 
sudden  changes  in  the  state  of  the  body  as  regards  muscular 
activity  than  do  those  trained  to  the  highest  degree  of  phys- 
ical endurance.  Hence  it  is  advisable  with  drill  work  with 
large  classes  "to  warm  up  "  to  the  more  intense  work  more 
or  less  gradually,  and  not  to  pass  immediately  from  this  to 
rest. 

Any  account  of  the  day's  order  fails  to  do  it  justice 
which  does  not  emphasize  the  element  of  progression  so 
skilfully  carried  out.  In  each  group  of  movements  the 
student  passes  to  those  requiring  greater  co-ordination  and 
greater  strength  only  after  he  can  do  simpler  movements 
involving  the  same  general  groups  of  muscles.  This  is 
merely  the  principle  of  training,  but  nowhere  is  more 
attention  given  to  it  than  in  the  system  we  are  considering. 
Compare  it,  for  example,  with  the  method  of  giving  direc- 
tions to  individual  students  for  the  use  of  apparatus  for  the 
next  three  or  four  months,  and  then  giving  new  directions 
for  more  difficult  work  only  after  that  time.  The  Swedish 
drill  can  stand  this  comparison  and  should  invite  it,  for  it 
is  clear  that  only  in  drill  work  can  any  proper  system  of 
daily  progression  be  carried  out  successfully  in  large 
classes;  and  daily  progression  in  large  classes  is  a  thing 
which,  it  seems  to  me,  we  have  a  right  to  demand  of  any 


39 

gymnastic  work  which  professes  to  be  physiologically  cor- 
rect and  practically  available. 

The  mere  recount  of  these  groups  of  movements  of  the 
day's  order  certainly  sounds  uninteresting  enough.  In 
point  of  fact,  it  is  only  the  skeleton  upon  which  the  system 
is  built,  and  no  more  describes  a  day's  drill  with  a  good 
teacher  than  does  the  human  skeleton  betray  the  life  of  the 
human  body.  I  have  already  said  that  a  poor  teacher  can 
make  a  Swedish  drill  an  insufferable  bore.  In  fact,  the 
ability  to  make  gymnasium  work  attractive  and  interesting 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  any  one  who  is  to  undertake  that 
work.  Swedish  gymnastics  will  not  be  a  success  without 
this.  But  will  any  other  gymnasium  work  be  a  success 
without  it  ? 

Critics  of  the  system  have  made,  it  seems  to  me,  two  very 
great  mistakes :  one  class  has  deluded  itself  into  thinking 
that  it  has  criticised  the  system,  when  it  has  only  criticised 
certain  physiological  or  other  statements  which  have  been 
made  about  the  system ;  another  class  goes  no  further  than 
the  skeleton  upon  which  the  whole  thing  is  built,  and  then 
pronounces  the  system  itself  "as  dry  as  bones."  Neither 
mistake  would  have  been  made,  had  the  system  been  studied 
on  the  floor  of  the  gymnasium  and  with  reference  to  the 
aims  which  it  seeks  to  accomplish. 

In  physical  training  two  aims  are  pre-eminently  impor- 
tant :  — 

1.  The  general  effects  of  bodily  exercise,  including  the 
acquisition  of  that  amount  of  physical  endurance  which  the 
special  conditions  of  each  individual  life  demand.      I  place 
this  first,  for  it  is  the  chief  object  of  physical  training. 

2.  Correction  of  physical  faults,  both  deformities  of  the 
muscular  and  skeletal- systems  and  deficiencies  in  the  ner- 
vous control  of  the  body.      I  have  tried  to  show  that  this  is 
rendered  necessary  by  the  specialization  of  life,  and  is  espe- 
cially necessary  with  that  specialization  which  marks  the 


40 

period  of  development,  and  which  may  be  summed  up  in  the 
two  words,  "the  school  desk." 

The  primary  purpose  of  the  Swedish  system  of  gymnas- 
tics is  the  second  of  these  objects.  Its  system  of  move- 
ments is  based  on  a  most  careful  study  of  kinesiology.  It 
studies  the  effects  of  the  innumerable  possible  movements 
upon  the  development  of  the  body,  —  that  is  to  say,  upon 
form  and  carriage, —  and  it  makes  use  of  such  movements  as 
are  known  to  be  fitted  to  accomplish  the  corrective  effects 
desired.  It  gives  these  movements  in  that  way  which  will 
best  insure  with  all  members  of  the  class  their  proper  exe- 
cution and  greatest  corrective  value, —  that  is,  in  the  form 
of  a  drill  and  to  the  word  of  command;  and  it  gives  them 
with  constant  reference  to  such  progression,  both  in  the 
work  of  each  day  and  especially  in  the  work  of  successive 
days,  as  to  secure  the  effects  of  training  without  undue 
fatigue  or  strain. 

*•  It  does  not  entirely  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  body  for 
general  exercise.  No  gymnasium  work  does.  The  Swed- 
ish system  is  not  all  of  physical  training;  and,  if  some  of 
its  advocates  have  claimed  that  it  is,  such  claims  are 
merely  the  result  of  over-enthusiasm,  and  do  not  demand 
serious  consideration.  It  starts  with  the  assumption  that 
corrective  work  is  needed,  and  that  this  must  bean  essential 
part  of  all  gymnastics;  but  it  endeavors  to  give  this  in  such 
a  way  as  shall  not  sacrifice  the  more  general  hygienic 
effects  of  muscular  activity.  To  what  extent  it  accom- 
plishes this  depends  largely  on  the  teacher,  partly  upon  the 
gymnasium  facilities.  It  is  not  automatic:  it  will  not 
succeed  in  incompetent  hands;  but,  unless  you  are  ready  to 
deny  the  need  of  all  corrective  work  in  physical  training,  it 
does  not  demand  qualities  of  its  teachers  other  than  those 
which  all  physical  training  requires. 

We  hear  much  to-day  about  the  immense  superiority  of 
outdoor  games  to  indoor  gymnastic  work;  and  there  can  be 


41 

no  doubt  that  in  most,  if  not  all,  our  American  colleges  for 
men  there  is  a  marked  tendency  away  from  the  gymnasium. 
Nor  need  we  be  surprised  at  this.  When  gymnasia  were 
first  built  at  our  colleges,  the  entire  work  of  physical  train- 
ing, apart  from  that  of  class  and  college  teams,  was  confined 
to  the  gymnasium,  which  thus  came  to  assume  a  rank  of  ex- 
clusive importance  to  which  it  was  not  entitled.  Moreover, 
this  gymnasium  work  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  under  suffi- 
cient supervision.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Ameri- 
can idea  of  a  gymnasium  has  been  an  elaborate  building 
with  expensive  apparatus,  in  which  the  innocent  student  in 
search  of  health  might  pull  on  various  weights  "with  ner- 
vously exhausting  and  deadening  monotony."  Such  has 
been  the  experience  of  the  majority  of  men  who  have  tried 
such  work,  and  the  tendency  to  the  exclusive  use  of  games 
is  simply  the  unanswerable  proof  of  the  failure  of  the  sys- 
tem. It  is  not  a  valid  argument  against  well-directed  gym- 
nastics. In  fact,  both  the  gymnasium  and  outdoor  games 
have  special  functions  in  physical  training,  and  one  cannot 
replace  the  other.  On  the  contrary,  one  supplements  the 
work  of  the  other.  For  producing  the  general  physiologi- 
cal results  of  exercise,  outdoor  work  is  immeasurably  supe- 
rior. Bicycle  riding,  canoeing,  rowing,  tennis,  golf,  skat- 
ing, etc.,  not  to  mention  the  games  of  earlier  life,  should 
constitute  and,  as  a  practical  matter,  must  constitute  the 
chief  means  of  physical  training;  but,  while  they  well  serve 
these  more  general  and  more  important  purposes,  they  are 
not  conveniently  used  at  all  times  of  the  year,  and  they  have 
only  limited  corrective  value;  they  do  not  remedy  faults 
of  posture,  of  carriage,  of  gait ;  and  those  interested  in 
physical  training  should  see  to  it  that  the  welcome  increase 
of  interest  in  outdoor  exercise  does  not  produce  neglect  of 
the  corrective  work  which  the  gymnasium  alone  can  give. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


31980 


NOV151987 


.77 


BY 


LD  2lA-60m-2,'G7 


General  Library 

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